WFMJ reported that U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes, D-Akron, has introduced a federal bill that would penalize police departments for misusing Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers. The bill is the Law Enforcement Accountability for Plate Reader Abuse Act, or LEAP Act.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports the bill was announced in an Oct. 22 press release. The two reports agree on the penalty amounts but differ on which agencies they reach, as explained below.
Who would the LEAP Act penalize?
Both reports describe two penalty levels:
- Agencies that fail to correct an officer's misuse, or that commit a second offense, could lose 10% of their federal funding.
- Departments that report inaccurate misuse data could lose 15%.
WFMJ says the penalties would apply to state and local agencies throughout the country. The Beacon Journal says the reporting requirement covers state or local departments that receive money from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant or the Community Oriented Policing Services program, and that departments would also submit to random audits from the Office of the Inspector General. Neither report quotes the bill text, so the exact reach is not settled by these stories.
WFMJ also cites a Washington Post report that at least 50 law enforcement officials have been accused or charged with misusing Flock cameras or similar tools. More than half of those incidents involved surveillance of romantic partners.
What changes for drivers?
The LEAP Act is a proposal, and neither report describes any camera being turned off because of it. Cameras run by a neighboring city, the county, the state, a business or an HOA are not addressed in either report. To see what is mapped near you, check the camera map.
What are Ohio lawmakers proposing at the state level?
WFMJ lists three state proposals:
- Sen. Al Cutrona of Canfield intends to sponsor a bill requiring law enforcement to delete ALPR data after ten days, and making it a felony to sell that data.
- State Rep. Gary Clink of Vickery's House Bill 1011 proposes a 12-month pause on Flock cameras, with exceptions for Amber and Endangered Missing Persons alerts.
- State Rep. Levi Dean of Xenia's bill would bar government agencies from deploying mass surveillance technology, such as Flock cameras, or accessing surveillance footage without a search warrant.
For background on how these readers work and what they record, see how plate readers work.
What happens next?
Neither report gives a committee date for the federal bill. The next dated event is the Nov. 3 election, when Sykes faces Republican challenger Carey Coleman. Coleman told the Beacon Journal he would need to take a closer look at the bill, but his "initial knee-jerk reaction" was that it is another attempt to defund law enforcement.